JW-Jones

The late great James Brown had multiple nicknames and monikers. You know them; The Godfather of Soul, Mr. Dynamite, The Godfather of Funk, Soul Brother Number One, J.B. and The Hardest Working Man in Showbiz. Since his passing on Christmas Day 2006, JB just might have passed onto JW the mantle of the “The Hardest Working Man in Show Biz.” JW-Jones is a thirty three year old blues musician who has already recorded seven albums, manages his own career, books his own shows, fronts his own band and has maintained an intense touring schedule. He has put together an amazing live act and has already recorded and performed with some of the biggest names in the business.

His most recent North American Tour will bring the Ottawa, Ontario, Canada, native to Southern California for the very first time. His Los Angeles area dates will include a very special “an evening with” type of presentation at the Chaparral Live Room in San Dimas, California, on Friday, November 1st. Jones and his band will have the stage to themselves for the entire show. That is not to say he might not have some friends stop by for this gig.

I caught up with JW-Jones last Tuesday afternoon as the guitar slinging road warrior was in Vancouver, British Columbia, and making his way to the U.S. We talked about his meteoric career. Enjoy a conversation I had with the one and only JW-Jones.

David Mac (DM): From the time I heard your first album, 2000’s Defibrillatin’, it was clear that, at the tender age of twenty, you had already developed a very mature sophisticated sound. Did you have any formal music training or teachers that helped you get to that point so quickly.

JW- Jones (JWJ): Not Really. I am pretty much self-taught. Being self-taught however has its pros and cons. I learned pretty quickly when I first started, but it took me a lot of time to learn a lot of the chords and all the shapes and where they fit.

DM: How did you figure that stuff out?

JWJ: I would just chat with the bands and visit with the guitar players when they came through town. I did a lot of watching the guitar player’s hands.

DM: Are there any players in particular that stand out as being a particular influence or help to you?

JWJ: Little Charlie Baty and Anson Funderburgh were a big help. They put me on the right track as to what to listen to and what to work on. My first exposure to blues prior to that was kind of that Hendrix to Stevie Ray thing. The Stevie led me to Jimmie Vaughan and that last step was an important one, obviously, if you want to be a serious blues guitar player.

DM: He was listening to a lot of people, not the least of which was Albert Collins. I hear a lot of “Texas” in Defibrillatin’.

JWJ: Absolutely! The title track is my tribute to Albert Collins and Anson Funderburgh.

DM: Let’s back up just a little and talk about your first band experiences before going into the studio.

JWJ: I started my own band in 1998. I had a singer. I wanted to be like Anson or Ronnie Earl where I can live in that world of being just a guitar player. When you grow up, you realize you have to learn how to sing and run your own band. You can’t always rely on another singer all the time.

I started playing in a band that didn’t travel too much, but just played around Ottawa. It was led by a piano player named Johnny Russell. It was a very traditional Chicago blues band. That’s where I learned the Muddy Waters, Jimmy Rogers type stuff. I also played with a harmonica player named Neil Barrington. He turned me onto Sonny Boy and Little Walter and taught me how to play with a harmonica player.

DM: Your first two albums you have fellow Canadian, Steve Marriner in your band. He too has enjoyed a great deal of success in this field.

JWJ: He is also from Ottawa. The West Coast blues sound was pretty hot back then so we did that harmonica, guitar thing or we tried anyway. We tried to emulate the Rod Piazza and Alex Schultz or Rick Estrin and Charlie Baty kind of a thing.

DM: There is a guy you worked with very early on starting with your second album Bogart’s Bounce who has been very closely associated with both the Texas and West Coast scene and that is Kim Wilson. How did that association come about?

JWJ: It started in 2001. Kim had me sit in with the Fabulous Thunderbirds at a festival in Syracuse, New York, when I was 21 years old. I knew Ronnie James Webber, the great bass player who was with the T-Birds at the time, from his days with Little Charlie and the Nightcats. I asked Kim him if he would come up and record with me. He said he couldn’t because he was so busy. He was doing sessions with Bonnie Raitt, B.B. King and all kinds of people. Then out of the blue he called me and said, “Yeah, I was thinking about it and I would like to do it. You don’t have worry whether or not you can pay me or worry about flying me in. I just want to help.”

So on my second album entitled Bogart’s Bounce which came out in 2002, Kim sings on a couple of tracks and blows harp on another. We also brought in Gene Taylor to play piano on the thing. He was with the T-Birds back in those days. Kim then produced my next album 2004’s My Kind of Evil. He also plays and sings on a couple of tracks.

DM: What I find interesting about your music is that you have exhibited a great deal of variety in your albums. You don’t recycle the same formula over and over. I think a good example of this is your next release, Kissing in 29 Days. You have another very special guest on that record as well.

JWJ: I was going through a really big Ray Charles phase at the time. I wanted to do a record with big horn charts and arrangements. I was able to get David “Fathead” Newman to play tenor (saxophone) on the record. As I am sure you know he played with Ray Charles for many, many years. Little Milton was supposed to be on that record. Unfortunately he passed away before we could record together.

DM: Your fifth album, 2008’s Bluelisted has you recording again with some West Coast blues giants.

JWJ: That’s right. Once I worked with Kim the doors were open for me to asking guys that were affiliated with him. All I wanted to do is make a record with drummer Richard Innes. He is one of my heroes.

DM: What are some of the things about Richard’s playing that you feel so strongly about?

JWJ: Just his natural groove. I mean just his placement of the snare drum alone. Never mind anything else, like how well he grooves on the hi-hat. It is just the coolest. He has just the right kind of snap to it. I mean very, very few drummers have ever achieved what he can do with his left hand. He is not aggressive. He is right behind the beat. He is very supportive and never intrusive. He knows exactly what needs to be played. He can play anything too, from the super traditional stuff to Earl Palmer rock and roll grooves. He can do it all.

Anyway, I called Richard and he said he would do it. At the time we were touring with an organ player and I thought I guess we can deal with an organ bass. He said, “I can get you a bass player if you want for the session.” I said to Richard, “Ok, like who were you thinking of?” He said “Yeah, I’ll call Larry.” I said “Larry Taylor?” I thought ‘Oh my God, YES please.’ Richard called me back the next day and said, “Larry’s in.” I had formed relationships with Charlie Baty and Junior Watson as they were coming through town once a year or so, so I asked Watson and Charlie and they said, “Yeah, sure.” Next thing you know I am in the studio with these four heavyweights. It was an amazing time for me to be working with these guys.

DM: On this album, unlike the first two records, there is only one track with harp on it and it’s Charlie Baty.

JWJ: I appreciate you bringing that up Dave. A lot of people don’t realize what a great harmonica player Charlie is. I asked him to play on that song. It is actually the first time he ever played harp on a record. He is just not making his way around the instrument. He is really deep into the harp.

Larry and Richard even did my next album Midnight Memphis Sun that we recorded down at the Sun Studios in Memphis. I even brought in Hubert Sumlin for that session.

DM: That brings us to your most recent project the 2012 album, Seventh Hour.

JWJ: I took a different approach on this one, as there are no special guests on this album. I just wanted to play this album with the same band I tour with so that’s what we did.

DM: Let’s talk about the band.

JWJ: Laura Greenburg is on bass and our drummer is named Jamie Holmes. It is just a rockin’ band. They are really solid. We can weave in and out of different styles. We put on a really great live show. Even though I have been pretty prolific with the recordings, the live show has always been our selling point. We do a lot of visual stuff. Some of our show was inspired by Little Charlie and the Nightcats. Even if someone comes out to one of our shows and haven’t got very deep into the blues yet, they will still walk away and be a fan of our band.

DM: Even though you are known for your live shows, your guitar playing and singing, you started out playing drums.

JWJ: That’s right and then I switched to bass. We do something similar to what the Nightcats used to do where we all switch instruments during our show. It gives me an excuse to play drums, which I love.

DM: How does starting out on drums, and then bass, have an effect on your guitar playing?

JWJ: I think it was the best thing that could have happened to me. It gave me such a foundation. I sometimes think it was a blessing as well as a curse because now I know exactly what I want to hear out of the other instruments especially the drums. It does give me a bigger picture of what sound I want to hear from the band. It also explains my mild obsession with Richard Innes. (laughs)

DM: What would you like people to know about you outside of your Richard Innes obsession (laughs)?

JWJ: I just want people to know we are not your typical blues band. It’s not like we play our songs and then it’s ‘Goodnight everybody.’ We really put on a good show. Are you are coming out to the shows in L.A. Dave?